Direct noncovalent conjugation of folic acid on reduced graphene oxide as anticancer drug carrier

Conjugate of reduced graphene oxide with folic acid (rGO/FA) was prepared through a completely noncovalent functionalization method. rGO/FA conjugate was soluble in physiological media with high dispersion stability and enabled the accumulation of hydrophobic doxorubicin (DOX) and CdSe quantum dot (QD) as an anticancer drug and a fluorescent tag, respectively. rGO/FA conjugate loaded with DOX showed specific targeting to MDA-MB 231 cells, excellent drug-release efficiency and cytotoxicity in vitro. Considering the simplicity and extendibility of noncovalent functionalization methods, rGO/FA conjugate can be widely utilized for the designing of new graphene-based nanocarriers. (C) 2015 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.